PRODUCT SHOWCASE

THE LATEST GROUNDSCARE TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES

GROUNDS TRAINING KEITH KENT JOINS GROUNDS TRAINING

Former RFU and Twickenham head groundsman Keith Kent has become a Lantra instructor for Grounds Training. He has joined the training provider’s team delivering Customised Provision courses, which include sports line marking and lawn care.

Keith has spent an incredible half century in the grounds industry. He joined Leicester City FC as a 16-year-old trainee and spent 17 years at the club, becoming head groundsman in the early 1980s. In 1987, he was appointed head groundsman at Manchester United FC, overseeing a team of 10 who were responsible for pitch maintenance at Old Trafford and the club’s training facilities. He moved south to join the RFU as head groundsman in 2002.

While overseeing the playing surface at Twickenham Stadium, Keith was equally passionate about the grassroots game. He toured the country visiting more than 500 community rugby clubs to advise and guide club staff and volunteers in the maintenance of their pitches.

Keith says: “Retirement has given me more time to give back to the industry I love. I find it very rewarding being able to pass on my knowledge to people who are keen to learn new skills and progress their careers.” n groundstraining.com AMAZONE

Groundkeeper and Profihoppers make light work of turf maintenance

At this time of year, it’s all about managing grass growth, renovating certain areas and contending with patches of moss that need scarifying, and raking poor-quality grasses that need to be thinned out. The AMAZONE SmartCut flail system offers the solution to all these turf issues, which includes the wide range of Groundkeeper tractor-mounted flail collectors, or either of the Profihopper self-propelled models.

It doesn’t matter whether ‘cut and drop’ or ‘cut and collect’ is required: either can be selected, giving total flexibility in any application or operation. In addition, when cutting in wet or dry weather, the unique chevron blade layout ensures a full overlap of cut for a clean finish, irrespective of the length of material being handled, with the longer stalks shredded into manageable lengths to ensure that the maximum capacity of the collection hopper is used and that any material taken away composts as quickly as possible.

High-lift hopper emptying also means that tipping into a skip or trailer is no problem, making it simple and convenient to clear a site – and where a dethatching operation is required, fitting a set of scarifying knives takes just a few minutes.

n amazone.co.uk

VANMAC

TIME-SAVING TRILOS ARE TOP CHOICE FOR ALL-SEASON USE

The Trilo S3 and S4 vacuum sweeper from Vanmac can be put to use throughout the year, with optional scarifier and flail shafts making it ideal for year-round operation. The range of interchangeable heads can be swapped in and out in under an hour, with minimal tools, resulting in less time spent in the workshop and more out in the field.

The Trilo S-Line’s modular design gives the operator a versatile and adaptable unit with alternative heads suited to a range of maintenance tasks. A scarifier shaft, with a range of knife options, enables it to scarify large areas, with all material collected in the same pass. Alternatively, a flail shaft can be fitted for quick and convenient cut and collection of roadside verges. The material is then vacuumed and collected into the three-cubic-metre or four-cubic-metre hopper, which can then be emptied with ease, thanks to Trilo’s high-tip facility. n vanmac.co.uk

HUSQVARNA

CEORA takes robotic mowing to a new level with huge area capacity

Husqvarna’s CEORA™ is set to change the game for turfcare professionals. It covers more turf than ever, with an area capacity of up to 75,000sq m, and can be scheduled to cut at a desired frequency. Going further on larger areas means more costefficient mowing operations.

Cutting systematically in parallel tracks means the CEORA is equally efficient in any large green space. By cutting little and often, the CEORA will help to achieve an excellent turf quality that is consistently dense and green with deeper roots.

It is robustly built and easy to manage. Grounds staff can expect it to navigate with a precision of 2-3cm, thanks to Husqvarna’s satellite navigation system, EPOS. This, alongside virtual boundaries, eliminates the hassle of physical wires and makes it possible to select individually defined areas on demand, with different schedules as well as cutting height settings.

Using mobile technology to stay connected to operations is second nature these days, and the CEORA offers complete control directly from a smartphone. Steering and defining cutting areas or changing the turfcare schedule is fast and simple. Husqvarna Fleet Services™ allows surveillance and map localisation for full control and theft protection.

n husqvarna.com BARENBRUG

BARENBRUG UPS THE ANTE WITH ULTRAFINE PERENNIAL RYEGRASS

As demand for perennial ryegrass within sportsturf management increases, Barenbrug is stepping up to provide the leading fine-leaf perennial ryegrass range available on the market. It is available with three options of superior products for use in areas of fine turf that demand close-mowing and high wear. The premium Ultrafine range, with varying proportions of ryegrasses and fescues, has grass variety Barolympic at its core, which leads the BSPB/STRI Turfgrass Seed 2022 booklet G4 table by a 16 per cent margin over its nearest competitor – top for colour and second for fineness of leaf.

The fine-leaf ryegrass lead product range, Ultrafine 100, mixes 50 per cent Barolympic with Barsignum and new cultivar Barprium, both in the top five on the G4 table. Barprium brings independently proven drought tolerance, efficient nitrogen use and disease resistance. New Ultrafine

60 is 60 per cent ryegrass varieties Barolympic and Barprium blended with three high-ranked varieties of red fescue – strong creeping red Barrisse, slender creeping red Viktorka and Chewings Bodega – to create a turf with exceptional density. Ultrafine 30 also uses these three fescues, which each feature in the top 10 of their own specific tables, together with 30 per cent Barolympic. n barenbrug.co.uk

REDEXIM

PRECISION DESIGN GIVES VERTI-DRAIN ITS VERSATILITY

Two years on from its launch, the VertiDrain 2519 has proven its credentials as the ‘next generation’ of Redexim’s iconic Verti-Drain range. Thanks to its 1.9m working width and ability to accept a range of tine options, the 2519 gives turf managers a highproductivity aerator, with the versatility required for year-round operation.

The 2519 model incorporates the best of Redexim’s precision design and engineering. Together with a new drawrod system, it features an adjustable heave lever and PTO drive, offering a speed of up to 540rpm, which enables it to cover 9000sq m per hour when spaced at 165mm. As standard, the Verti-Drain 2519 comes with 12mm solid tines, but can accept solid tine options up to 19mm and hollow tines for coring. This versatility, combined with a variable working depth of up to 250mm, makes it suitable across the full spectrum of the maintenance calendar. n redexim.com